Syllabus For Mr. Benjamin's 10th Grade Literature Class

Weverville High School 2nd Semester 2011

Texts

Dante's Inferno
Excerpts from Purgatorio and Paradisio

Description

The class is designed to familiarize students with a seminal work of World Literature, literary concepts,
and literary discussions. The class will also focus on writing about Literature in different genres: analytical
essays, research essays, and blogs. We will be using a wiki space to facilitate discussions, for online
writing workshops, and to easily access information and images.

Assignments/Percent of Grade

2 Essays/40%
Weekly Blogs/10%
Vocab quizes/10%
Class Participation/20%
Tests/20%

Writing Workshops/Peer Review

This will be part of the grade for the research essay and also class participation. We will be using google docs
to review student works on the computer. We will also bring in hard copies of drafts to explore different ways to
edit and comment on student writing. We will decide, in groups, which way we prefer to workshop and will be flexible
in this area (We want to find what works for different students).

Plagiarism

I know how to spot it and you will suffer. We will go over this issue in class and show ways to avoid this. Know that
this will result in failing grades for the project and possibly for the class.

Class Goals

As writers students should learn how to express themselves and their ideas in different genres.

Students should learn how to write for tests (ACT/SAT) but also produce works that are not flat and un-engaging.

As readers students should learn to critically analyze Literature, to spot literary devices, and to engage in
discussions about texts.